For families searching for connection, confidence, and a sense of community, Hand, Hoof & Heart has become much more than a farm. Since founding the organization in 2013, Erin Chimberoff has created a place where individuals feel seen, supported, and accepted exactly as they are.
Located in Acworth, the program offers therapeutic horsemanship, adaptive therapeutic riding, unmounted equine education, garden club, vocational and social skills groups, inclusive summer camps, and field trips. Through relationships with animals, nature, and the community, participants build confidence, communication, independence, and emotional growth.
The mission is deeply personal.
“Hand, Hoof and Heart grew out of my own need for connection, purpose, and belonging,” Erin shared. “Animals and the outdoors were always what helped bring me back out into the world.”
After struggling with severe social anxiety herself, Erin said animals became a source of comfort and confidence. Creating the program became her way of building the kind of community she always needed growing up.
“I wanted it to be a place where people could feel safe enough to show up as themselves, accepted enough to keep coming back, and inspired enough to discover what they were capable of,” she said.
Erin believes one of the biggest misconceptions about healing and equine therapy is that growth has to look dramatic or immediate.
“Everyone is always looking for big, out loud moments that everyone can see, but we forget that those moments only happen after a series of small, quiet, extremely important steps,” Erin explained. “People want the waterfall, but they forget about the stepping stones that get them there.”
That growth is something families like the McCrays of Smyrna have experienced firsthand through their son, Scottie, who has a rare diagnosis called GABRB2.
“As a parent, knowing that we have this outlet for him to be able to come and enjoy and spend time here really gives us a peace of mind,” Scott McCray said.
“Hand, Hoof, and Heart has just been really great for Scottie and his anxiety. I'm just glad there's something that he likes and he could be a part of,” Rachel McCray added.
For Erin, seeing those transformations never gets old.
“When we take the time to learn how someone communicates, how they process the world, and what helps them feel confident, we get to see what they were capable of all along,” she said.